The advert made claims that the product's
ingredients "have been found to be effective at keeping
lurgies at bay, help support the body when bugs do hit,
while helping build immune health", and that the product is
"designed to support recovery from ills and
chills".

The advertisement also used a variety of
vague terms such as "lurgies", "bugs", and "ills and chills"
instead of referring directly to illnesses such as the
common cold and influenza. In response to this being pointed
out in the complaint, Health 2000 stated that:

"The
complainant must surely be aware that the use of vague and
ill-defined terms is not a choice in this
industry."

The only substantiation provided by the
advertiser was that for one of the ingredients, zinc; there
is some evidence that it may produce a
reduction in the duration of a cold when taken at a dose of
> 75 mg/day. However, the Health 2000’s product contains
5mg of zinc per capsule, and Health 2000 recommends that
only 1 or 2 capsules be taken per day.

The Advertising
Standards Complaints Board said:

"the advertisement
was likely to mislead consumers as the claims made were
[not] substantiated by the Advertiser in breach of Principle
2 of the Therapeutic Products Advertising Code" and that
"the advertisement did not observe a high standard of social
responsibility to consumers and society required by
advertisements for therapeutic products and was in breach of
Principle 3 [of the] Therapeutic Products Advertising
Code".

The Society for Science Based Healthcare
also lodged a direct complaint with Health 2000 regarding
their bimonthly magazine. The June-July 2014 magazine stated that the
flu vaccine is an "onslaught of mercury and toxins", despite
the flu vaccine in New Zealand containing neither mercury
nor toxins. Thiomersal, a mercury-containing preservative,
has been the subject of much anti-vaccine fear mongering
worldwide despite a large body of evidence supporting its
safety at the levels delivered by vaccines. The flu vaccine
in New Zealand does not contain thiomersal, and this
information is readily available from the website http://www.fightflu.co.nz.

In
response to this complaint, Health 2000 has promised to
print a "clarification" in the next issue of their magazine
stating that the flu vaccine in New Zealand does not contain
mercury. They will also be expanding their disclaimer.
Health 2000 also said that:

"We acknowledge that as
New Zealand's largest natural health retailer our brand is
prominent and subject to greater scrutiny, but this is the
third complaint from Mr Hanna this year. We wonder why he is
not complaining about the outrageous claims we see our
competitors getting away with in print."

The society
finds it concerning that New Zealand's self-professed
"largest natural health retailer" feels "the use of vague
and ill-defined terms is not a choice in this industry", and
that they seem to be aware of "outrageous claims we see our
competitors getting away with in print". Consumers should be
wary that not everything they are told by sellers of
"natural health" products and services may be true or
supported by evidence.

Regarding these claims, Mr
Hanna said:

“I have made 19 other complaints about
seemingly misleading therapeutic claims this year, and I
have not targeted Health 2000 specifically.”

Two
other ASA complaints from the Society for Science Based
Healthcare were also released today.

One complaint was upheld against Ear
Candles By Louise, who had advertised misleading claims on
their website that ear candles are able to produce
therapeutic benefits such as relieving ear infections and
sinus pain.

Another complaint was settled against
Simillimum Homeopathic Pharmacy, who agreed to remove
misleading claims that homeopathy is "highly effective" and
"scientifically proven" from their website.

Last week,
another ASA complaint from the Society
for Science Based Healthcare against an email advertisement
for Camu Camu was settled. The advertiser, In2Herbs, said
that:

"The advertisement is misleading and should not
have been sent out in its existing context and we apologise
for our actions."

The Society for Science Based
Healthcare is pleased with these decisions, and hopes that
advertisers such as these will refrain from making
therapeutic claims that are not supported by rigorous
evidence.

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